ADHD Girls to Women by Lotta Borg SkoglundRating: ✩✩✩✩✩
There was a lot to like about this book. As a woman raising two AFAB children in a household full of neurodivergence, seeing the experiences on paper was amazing. So many times the narratives struck home and the well researched explanations of why ADHD brains behave this way was enlightening. Compared to how much of ADHD diagnosis and treatment occurs here in the US, focusing almost entirely on the experience of white boys, this approach to understanding and managing symptoms feels light years ahead.
However, and here is where it becomes only a middling book, some of the information felt surprisingly dated. The entire book is strictly binary when it comes to gender and treats sex and gender as one synonymous entity. I will grant that this may be an issue of translation (I don't speak enough languages to know how the use of the singular "they" is evolving worldwide), but it felt very glaring. Adding in the occasional reference to studies that are pretty commonly known as outdated and/or poorly designed (do people still think the Marshmallow Test is a real thing?) and the book loses some appeal.
I can't say this would be a bad addition to a Neurodivergence Reading list, but it should be read with an eye to some shortcomings. Overall, I enjoyed the book, found much of it to be informative and have already recommended it to some of my parenting cohort.
Published on 21 November 2023 by Jessica Kingsly Publishers
Book #108 of 2023
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